Mall loses bid to block release of shooting videos

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- An upscale New Jersey mall can't stop the release of surveillance videos related to the fatal carjacking of a young lawyer there last December.

Michigan-based Taubman Centers, which owns The Mall at Short Hills, had sought a "protective order" for the footage and certain documents in a lawsuit filed against them by the lawyer's widow, NJ.com reported.

Taubman Centers said prospective criminals could use the footage to determine the location of surveillance cameras, but state Superior Court Judge James Rothschild Jr. declined to grant the order late last week, saying it was a "fairly unlikely scenario."

Taubman Centers and Universal Protection Service, whose officers patrol the mall, had also sought to restrict public access to security and emergency preparedness documents. They argued that such information could fall into the hands of criminals and jeopardize security.

Rothschild mostly rejected those arguments and refused to issue orders for most of the documents in question. The judge only restricted access to a map showing the location of security guards on the night Dustin Friedland was killed.

Four men charged in the case have pleaded not guilty to felony murder and other charges.

Authorities have said Friedland, a 30-year-old from Hoboken, was killed while returning to his car in the mall parking garage with his wife, Jamie Schare Friedland. They were confronted by carjackers and Friedland was shot in the head, but his wife was unharmed.

Jamie Schare Friedland filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this year, seeking unspecified damages. She accused the mall owners of reducing security to increase profits and first responders of mishandling a call for help, allegations those parties deny.

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